


Clarity

by LorelaiFromNow



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, People should learn to communicate with each other, Stiles Leaves Beacon Hills, Stiles is a dad, they're all old now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 02:04:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2450621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LorelaiFromNow/pseuds/LorelaiFromNow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wasn't planning on going back to Beacon Hills, until he did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

He had not planned on going back to Beacon Hills.

To be perfectly honest, he reflected upon the events that had ended with his departure far more often that necessary. He thought about Peter’s face when he killed him. He thought about Malia’s face when she found out he had been the one to pull the trigger. He thought about his dad’s face, how disappointed he had looked. He thought about Scott’s face, how he’d told him that if he had not been in the way, then Peter’s death wouldn’t have been necessary.

From time to time he thought about Derek, who had not looked as if he disagreed with Scott.

Sometimes he thought about how he had been thankful that with everything that had happened he hadn’t had the time to tell anyone about Columbia giving him a full ride. Sometimes he thought about how he had thrown away his phone and his laptop and how he had erased every email and social media account he had ever created.

Sometimes he thought that he regretted most decisions he made during that time.

**-o-**

There were some things a single father should know. He had to know how to deal with a fever, what to do when Bunny got lost, what to do when faced with a stomachache…

There were things that a single father of a 5 year-old should know. Stiles now knew how to braid hair. He knew what to do when his kid had chewed gum stuck to her hair. He knew how to trim her hair. And just in case someone thought that he just knew how to deal with hair, he also knew how to make the best mac&cheese in the world and knew the lyrics to every Disney song ever written.

However, he did not know what to do when an old, almost forgotten face suddenly turned up and threatened to kill him and his kid if he did not leave his territory.

Fucking Deucalion.

He had not planned on going back to Beacon Hills, but when the love of his life was threatened by a fucking werewolf that he had thought dead for a decade, Stiles could put every fucked up thought behind himself and go to fucking Beacon Hills.

Deucalion, bless his fucking soul, had given him enough time to find a place to live and make sure he wouldn’t lose his job. Apparently living on the 21st century meant that he could be a writer and a newspaper editor wherever the fuck he wanted.

He looked down at his daughter. She had her mother’s light-brown hair and soft features, but she had his eyes and his smile. She was tiny and beautiful and perfect and even if it meant facing ghosts that he had left behind a long time ago, he would do everything in his power to protect her.

“Where are we?” She asked, once she woke up on the taxi.

“Beacon Hills” He replied, putting a lock of hair behind her ear with his finger. “We’re gonna visit some of daddy’s old friends” He continued, trying to smile to his daughter.

“Why?”

“Because daddy needs some help” The frown on his daughter’s face made him smile, even if the familiar sign with the name of his hometown made his heart beat painfully fast inside his chest and a wave of nausea hit him suddenly.

“Don’t worry daddy. I will help you” She said with a toothy grin, clearly sensing his discomfort. Stiles sighed and, ignoring her protests, pulled her towards his lap and hugged her tightly.

**-o-**

Stiles met Nicole on the first week of classes. The first thing he noticed was that she was beautiful–then he noticed the fact that she was wearing a nice blouse with pajama pants and crocs. He didn’t talk to her until two weeks later, when they were partnered up for a project. She was even prettier up close. She was also smart, witty and called herself a free soul.

Of course, they ended up fucking a week later.

Nicole became his best friend. They would have sex whenever the other was single, but from the first moment it was clear they were not meant to be romantically involved.

Years later, Stiles admitted that he was careless. He was always really picky about his sexual partners and very anal –ha! – about wearing protection. With Nicole, it was not the first thing in his mind, though. She was on the pill and really into knowing her body’s calendar, so even though most of the time they used a condom, they were prone to slipping up.

It was nine months before his graduation that a slip-up resulted in a baby.

Their friendship was ruined when Stiles begged her not to have an abortion. He told her that he knew it was her body and thus her choice, but that he still did not want her to lose the baby. He swore that he would raise the baby and that he would never ask for money or anything and that he would disappear from her life once the baby was born. It took two weeks, but finally Nicole accepted.

–the damage had been done, though. Nicole started resenting him. As her belly grew, she became angrier and more closed off. Sometimes she would slap him for no reason at all, and sweet words became bitter insults.

It was actually a relief when she went into labor a month and a half earlier. Claudia-Marie Stilinski was born on April 16th, 2019. Nicole was discharged before the baby and she stayed just long enough to make sure every legal matter had been taken care of. Apparently she had been offered a job in England and it had not been a hard decision to make. She had wanted out and fate had given her a door.

Still…The love of Stile’s life was born and losing his best friend was a price that, although painful, he had been pretty much willing to pay.

**-o-**

He rented a small apartment in the farthest place from the station he could find. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen and a tiny living room and, fortunately, it was enough. When he arrived, all the boxes had been placed in the living room and the only furniture were the beds in the bedrooms.

“How long are we staying here, daddy?” Claudia asked as she went to the box with ‘ClaUDia StLINski’ written on it.

“I don’t know yet, ladybug” He told her as he looked around. Claudia pulled out his teddy bear from the box and went towards Stiles, holding up her arms in a very familiar sign.

“I’m hungry, daddy” She whispered, clearly uncomfortable with the empty apartment.

“There’s place that sells awesome hamburgers really close. Wanna go?” He asked, nuzzling his daughter’s soft cheek. Claudia let out a giggle and nodded. “Then we can do some grocery shopping. How does that sound?”

“Great!” She decided, clapping her tiny hands. Stiles chuckled as he grabbed his cell, wallet and keys and went to open the door. Truth to be told, he was exhausted. He hadn’t slept well during his last days in New York. Claudia had picked up on it, and she had been restless as well. Maybe it would have been smarter to stay inside, rest a little bit, but he also knew that Claudia was a nightmare when she was hungry and he didn’t have any other way to pick up something to eat.

Luckily for them, Beacon Hills hadn’t changed that much, and the ‘hamburger place’ was still where he had left it nine years before. The waitress –obviously– was not the same one that had worked there before. She was a short, slightly chubby girl with bright pink hair and a really bored expression on her face. Claudia giggled as she ordered two hamburgers, two sodas and curly fries.

“We cannot live in that apartment” His daughter told him a while later, as she ate a fry coated with ketchup. Stiles smirked as he did the same.

“We can’t?” Claudia shook her head vigorously, making her ponytail move from side to side. “Why?”

“It’s empty. Doggy doesn’t like it” She told him, holding up her teddy bear.

“Well, then…Mr. Doggy, you do not have to worry. We will find some furniture today and by tomorrow our flat will be as full of useless things as our old place. How does that sound?” He made sure to look at the bear as he talked, for he knew his daughter hated when he didn’t answer Doggy’s questions directly to Doggy.

“Daddy–”

“Besides, my good sir, I know for a fact that the landlady here isn’t as opposed to pets as Mr. Gordon was.” He had to hold back a smirk when he saw Claudia’s eyes widen comically. Maybe he was bribing his daughter. Just a little bit. But the truth was that he felt a little big guilty, and he wanted the move to be as smooth for Claudia as possible.

“We can–”

“We can go to the vet’s office tomorrow. Once we have some furniture in the house. I’m sure he’d be happy to introduce you to some of his furry friends” And yeah, Stiles knew that having a dog was a lot of work, but seeing Claudia’s face light up with happiness and hearing the joyful laugh that came out of her mouth made it all worth it.

Also…he really did need to see Deaton. He had  not planned things through, and maybe it would have been a better idea to call ahead and make sure that people knew he would be arriving to town.

They left half an hour later. Claudia had made a valiant effort, but she still had only been able to eat half of her hamburger and drink a quarter of her drink. The food had made her sleepy, though, and thus Stiles was left carrying a 5-year-old on his back.

“We need a car” She said after a few moments of silence, as they walked towards the supermarket. Stiles nodded, his daughter was usually –at least 70% of the time– right.

“Yeah…I used to have a Jeep. I don’t think that it’s still alive, though” He told her, sighing in relief when they arrived. We grabbed a shopping cart and carefully put Claudia on the seat. “Maybe we can rent one…Just for a while” Claudia shrugged. Shopping was not something Stiles particularly enjoyed. It was one of those tasks that were too boring to require his full attention but too complicated to do without thinking. Having a daughter also meant that the things he had bought before weren’t good enough then, and Claudia always had an opinion on the things he picked up.

“Also–Lucy Martinez always had one of these. Her dads bought it for her” Of course, Claudia was one of those kids that gave a complete speech on why her dad should buy useless items. Stiles gave her a look and Claudia’s face quickly transformed to one Stiles had come to fear.

“Oh, no. Claudia-Marie, if you cry right now you can say goodbye to the dog” Fortunately, once in a blue moon Stiles had something to bribe her with. Sometimes, it was enough to stop her from crying.

“Oh.” And just like that, the tears were gone and what was left was a very unhappy child putting back the ridiculously expensive and ugly cupcakes.

“We can bake some when we get home, baby, but I refuse to buy those”.

“But Lucy–”

“Lucy clearly has tacky taste and you should not do everything she does” The woman in front of them –clearly a mom, if the hairstyle and running shoes were anything to go by– stopped trying to hold back a smile.

“She is lovely” She said, smiling at Claudia. Claudia preened under the attention, giving the woman a big, toothy smile.

“Yeah, she is” Stiles confirmed, pecking his daughter’s cheek. The woman let out a laugh at the yelp Claudia let out and the way she started to rub her cheek furiously. “Say bye to the kind lady, sweetheart”

“Bye to the kind lady, sweetheart” Claudia repeated with a cheeky smile. Stiles rolled her eyes and once again wondered why his daughter had to be so much like him.

They made it back to the flat at around 8 in the evening. Stiles had ordered a couple of armchairs, a table and three chairs, and they had bought enough food to keep them going for a few weeks. Claudia wasn’t any happier about the place than she had been earlier that day, but she was more tired and thus did not protest too much when Stiles told her it was time to go to sleep.

He ended up going to sleep way past midnight. With everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks, he had ended up behind in his work. He was caught up in deadlines and apparently the world kept moving and producing news even if you did not have the time to pay attention.

**-o-**

The first time Claudia got sick, Stiles almost had a heart attack.

He had left his 9 months-old daughter with the sitter because he had a meeting and he forgot to turn on his phone after it ended. So of course, when he got home, he found Nelly full of puke and Claudia crying her little lungs out.

Stiles, always prone to exaggeration, was too nervous to do anything but call a taxi and drive his daughter to the hospital. He forgot to pay Nelly, he didn’t even think of cleaning up a little bit and he still did not turn on his phone.

Even though it had been just a bug, Stiles insisted that he would feel much better if they kept her in for observation for the night. The doctor assured him that it wasn’t necessary, but Stiles could be quite obstinate when he wanted to, which was most of the time.

Luckily, Claudia ended up being a very healthy child. Other than a mild case of bronchitis on her second Christmas alive, she didn’t get sick all that much, which was good, because even the tiniest little bump was enough to drive Stiles insane with worry.

He made sure to know every doctor and nurse by name –even if he did not have to go in all that much– and even took a first-aid course once.

Stiles was sure that if his dad saw him in that moment, he would laugh for days.

**-o-**

Stiles knew that he should have made sure that Deaton was still working in Beacon Hills before going to his office. But then again, it was clear that he hadn’t been in the best state of mind when he left New York.

Still, luckily for him, the place had not changed at all since the last time he visited and when he opened the door, Deaton was there, looking at a small beagle who –or so it seemed– had managed to upset a couple of bees.

“Doggy!” Claudia screamed, ruining his plans of staying in the shadows while Deaton worked. Deaton looked up –apparently used to that kind of reactions– but his calm expression quickly changed when he saw Stiles and –after a couple of seconds– realized who he was.

“Mr. Stilinski” He whispered. He shook his head and looked at the owner of the beagle. “It’s nothing serious. Make sure to give him lots of water and let the meds do its job…he’s going to be fine” He said, although he was clearly distracted. The kid nodded as he picked up his dog. Stiles didn’t say much as the kid paid and exited the office, and even then it stayed in silence for quite a few moments.

“Deaton” He finally broke the silence. “It’s good to see you” He said with as much sincerity as he could.

“It’s been a while” The man said.

“Daddy! Look!” Claudia yelled, pointing at a cage where a small bunny was sleeping. “It’s so cute!” Stiles grinned, his smile widening when he saw Deaton’s face change when he realized who Claudia was.

“Ladybug, come say hi” Claudia looked at him curiously but, after giving the bunny another awed look, obeyed. “This is Alan Deaton, the vet I told you about”

“Hello” Claudia said, a little bit shyly. “I’m Claudia-Marie Stilinski” Funnily enough, she still had some problems pronouncing her last name, and it was the small lisp that finally got a smile out of Deaton.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Stilinski” He said, holding out his hand. Claudia looked at her father and waited for him to know before taking the offered hand and shaking it gently. “What can I do for you?” Although he was speaking to Stiles, it was Claudia who answered.

“I want a doggy. Daddy said that we can adopt one because the landlady here likes doggies”  She said very seriously. Deaton’s smile widened.

“I see. I only have four dogs here today…you can look at those. But if you don’t like any of them, I can call my friend at the shelter and let him know you’re looking for a pet” Claudia clapped excitedly and nodded. “Follow me, then” Stiles felt odd as they walked towards the back of the building. He had memories of that place, and most of them weren’t pleasant. There were four relatively small cages there, and Claudia quickly ran towards them. “I assume there’s a reason you’re here” Deaton started, making Stiles sigh.

“Yeah, there is” He bit his lip for a few seconds and then looked at Deaton. “Did you know Deucalion was alive?” Deaton’s brow furrowed, but he nodded. Stiles groaned and rubbed his eyes. “He’s building a pack in New York…he found me by accident and made it very clear that I was not welcome there. He said that I should warn my quote-unquote friends”

“Oh. That’s not good”

“No shit”

“Swear-jar, daddy!” His daughter yelled from where she was kneeling. Stiles rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“I’ve not–I haven’t talked to anyone in nine years. I don’t even know where they are, but I figured coming back here was as good a place to start as any” He shrugged.

“They’re still here–Ms. Martin came back after she graduated, as did Ms. Hale. Scott and Derek never left. The pack’s bigger, now” Stiles scrunched up his nose. He was thankful, though, because Deaton was being much more helpful than he was used to.

“And my–is the–?” He groaned, annoyed by his own inability to refer to his dad.

“Your dad is still the Sheriff. And I do think you owe him a visit” Stiles frowned, but nodded. Years had put things into perspective, and having a child had made it quite clear that even with everything that had happened, he should have not cut communication with his own father.

“I know” He opened his mouth to make another question, but his daughter’s voice interrupted him.

“I want him” She called from her position in front of the third cage. Stiles looked at Deaton for a moment, before walking towards Claudia. Inside the cage there was a medium-sized dog with shaggy white hair. It was smelling Claudia’s hand as he whined, touching the bars with his paw. He was actually adorable, for such a dirty creature.

“His name is Oscar. He’s been here three weeks…His owner recently died and her daughter didn’t want to take care of him. He’s a good dog, very well-behaved and good with children”.

“Who even calls their dog Oscar?” Stiles asked as he knelt in front of the dog. Deaton knelt down as well and opened the cage. The dog immediately went to greet Claudia, barking happily and wiggling his short tail.

“Do you want to wait? Or are you ready to sign the paperwork?” Deaton asked after a moment. Stiles looked at his daughter, who nodded vigorously. “Very well, then. Let’s go” Deaton and Stiles didn’t talk as he signed the papers. They didn’t even talk while Claudia picked out a collar, food and a dish. It was Stiles who broke the silence, again.

“Should I go to the station?” He asked, feeling like a child even though he hadn’t been one in several years. Deaton looked unsure for a moment, before nodding.

“I do not know enough about the Sheriff’s shifts, but I’m sure that even if you interrupt his day he’s going to be happy to see you” Stiles made a face, not quite certain that that was the case, but nodded. “Oscar still needs a bath, though. Maybe if we do that here you’ll have some time to prepare”

Stiles looked unsure for a moment. “Yeah…what do you say, ladybug? Do you want to give Oscar a bath?” Claudia let out a happy sound and nodded.

“But you’re right, daddy…Oscar is a terrible name for a doggy” That was enough to make Stiles laugh.

**-o-**

After a couple of failed first dates, Stiles accepted that being a single father meant that his romantic life had to be put on hold. Most people his age were not ready for the commitment of dating someone with a kid, and those who were either had other kids –which made their relationship much more serious than Stiles was ready for– or his daughter simply didn’t like them.

And even though he sometimes found someone to have a good time –basically sex– there were some issues: first, it couldn’t be at his apartment. Sometimes his daughter slept with him in his bed and he refused, he absolutely refused to have sex in the same place his daughter slept from time to time. Second, he did not spend the night. He refused to leave his daughter with a nanny for a whole night because he wanted to have sex. Although he had friends, he wasn’t close enough to any of them to leave his daughter in their care for a whole night. Third, he became even more anal –hah! – about using protection. He had been stupid and even though Claudia was the best thing to ever happen to him, he knew that there were a lot of things worse than having an unplanned child.

So basically, Stiles was a single dad with very few friends, a practically non-existing romantic life and who basically spent his whole life taking care of his daughter. Sometimes he would think about how he hadn’t had an adult conversation in days and how that new girl in the sports section could have been the love of his life if he hadn’t impregnated Nicole.

–then he looked at his daughter, who was beautiful and smart and perfect and he decided that even if he had to stay celibate and friendless for the rest of his life, she was absolutely worth it.

Also, the fact that the only person he could regularly talk to was his daughter meant that she had a very advanced vocabulary for her age, and a surprisingly deep way of thinking for someone that still peed her bed from time to time.

**-o-**

By 3 in the afternoon, Stiles and Claudia were both hungry and cranky, but Oscar was clean and evidently ecstatic. When it was time to leave, Deaton did something completely out of character: he hugged Stiles and told him he had been missed and that he should think it at least ten times before he considered leaving again.

Leaving Deaton’s meant that it was time to go to the station. Stiles was feeling very anxious, more so than he had been in a long time, and Claudia, being the very wonderful angel she was, picked up on it. Which meant she got crankier.

“Daddy, I’m hungry” She whined, rubbing her tummy.

“I know baby…I have to visit someone else, and if we don’t go know I’m gonna lose my nerve” Claudia rolled her eyes.

“Silly daddy…okay. But you owe me a big chocolate milkshake” Stiles knew that his daughter was manipulating him. But giving that he had bribed her into staying quiet about the move with a dog, he couldn’t exactly be mad at her for it.

“We can go to the same place we went yesterday” He told her. As they got closer to the station, Stiles’ anxiety increased. He had to take deep breaths, simply because having a panic attack in the middle of the street with his daughter walking next to him would be the worst idea in the world.

Funnily enough, the first person he encountered was Deputy Perrish. Stiles had to curse whatever creature had given birth to him, because, apparently, he was even more attractive than he had been when he left.

“Stiles?” And then he had to laugh, because his name came out high-pitched and absolutely surprised.

“Hey” He said with a grin.

“Holy shit!”

Stiles held back a grin at the loud gasp his daughter let out. “You should know better than to say those words in front of small ears, mister” Claudia said, putting her tiny hands on her hips and frowning at the man in front of her. Stiles then let out a laugh and pulled her close.

“Sorry…I’m…Sorry. Oh, God. Did you–of course you didn’t. Your dad is in the office and that–God, she looks like you!” Perrish’s surprised attitude almost helped Stiles relax, funny as it was. He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Ladybug, this is Jordan Parrish. He was–Daddy knew him, from before. Deputy, this is my daughter, Claudia-Marie Stilinski”

“Holy–”

“Small ears, deputy” Stiles reminded him, looking as stern as his daughter had looked before.

“Sorry, again. It’s just…your father is going to freak”

“Daddy’s daddy?” Claudia said breathlessly, finally realizing what was going on. Stiles had talked a little bit about his dad to his daughter. She knew that he was a police officer, and she knew that he hadn’t talked to him in a long time. She was finally putting two-and-two together and, if the grin on her face was anything to go by, she was excited.

“Yes, my dad works here. It’s time you meet him. I think”

“He–Stiles, he’s been looking for you for nine years”

“I’m really good at hiding, Deputy” He said firmly. Parrish sighed, but nodded, and made a motion with his hand to indicate that Stiles should go ahead. “Ladybug, could you ask the Deputy to take care of Oscar while we talk to my dad?” Claudia nodded.

“Mr. Deputy, could you please take care of Oscar? He’s a really nice dog. He doesn’t growl or bark” Parrish gave her a small smile, and nodded. Stiles grabbed his daughter’s hand and walked inside the station.

The station was familiar, it hadn’t changed much. There were a couple of new decorations, and he didn’t know some of the officers there. The door to his father’s office was the same, though, with the same plaque and the same name. He took a deep breath before knocking.

“Come in” Stiles’ knees trembled when he heard his dad’s voice. It was the same and Stiles realized just how long he had gone without hearing it. He pushed the door open and smiled when he saw his dad buried in piles of paperwork. He didn’t speak–he couldn’t speak. “What can I do for–Stiles” His dad’s voice went from professional and firm to breathless and shaky in a matter of milliseconds. He also stood up and, funnily enough, Stiles wondered if it would be appropriate to chastise his father for gaining as much weight as he had since the last  time he’d seen him.

“Hey, dad” His voice was croaky and just as shaky as his dad’s, but apparently hearing it was enough to make the Sheriff run to hug him.

“Are you my grandpa?” His daughter asked and if Stiles had been in a better state of mind, he would have laughed at the look of surprise in his father’s face.

“What–Oh, god!” He said, kneeling down in front of Claudia. “Is she–?”

“Her name is Claudia-Marie Stilinski and she’s five” His dad’s eyes filled with tears when he heard the name, but he managed to control himself.

“Hello, sweetheart” He whispered quietly. Claudia looked up at Stiles for a moment, before deciding that the man in front of her was okay. She brought both her hands to the Sheriff’s face and put them under his eyes.

“Hello. You shouldn’t cry–I’m very happy to meet you!” And God, Stiles almost sobbed when he heard her and felt a very odd sense of pride at her words.

“These are happy tears…I missed your daddy very much and I’m also very, very happy to meet you” He said softly. Claudia grinned widely and put her arms around his father’s neck. The Sheriff froze for a moment, before hugging her tightly against his chest.

The office was quiet for a moment, before Claudia spoke again.

“I’m very hungry…you should come with us to have a hamburger. My daddy said that he would buy me a milkshake” She said with a grin, taking his father’s hand and jumping excitedly. The Sheriff looked up at Stiles with an unsure expression in his face.

“We could talk–I…there are things we should talk about” He said more firmly. His dad nodded and a small smile appeared on his face. Stiles finally took some time to look at him. He was older, that was for sure. His hair was now almost completely gray and his skin was more wrinkled than it had been before. His face hadn’t changed, though, and neither had his smile. Stiles let out a breath he had been holding and offered his hand to help his father stand up.

**-o-**

Peter managed to escape from Eichen House on April. Stiles did not exactly know how it happened, but he was there when they told the news to Derek.

There was a meeting after that. Deaton, Scott, Kira, Malia, Liam, Derek, Lydia and his dad were there. Stiles had the small suspicion that if he had not been there when Derek found out, he would have not been invited to that particular meeting.

Both Derek and Malia made it quite clear that Peter was not, under any circumstances, to be killed. It was odd, and Stiles never asked why, but the people there quickly agreed with both Hales.

There was a plan, a plant that did not include Stiles. Stiles was to stay at home and make sure that if anything happen, the whole police department would arrive as quickly as possible. They should have known that Stiles was not one to stay still for more than a few minutes.

He did not realize that Deaton had put a circle of mountain ash around the house, to make sure that no werewolf would be able to get inside. He only realized when as soon as he stepped out, Peter attacked. He liked to think that Peter had ben feral at the moment. He certainly had been angry had not pronounced a word–but he had to accept that maybe it was just all part of the plan. Killing Stiles would weaken both Scott and the Sheriff and –even though Stiles wasn’t quite ready to admit it– it probably would have destabilized Derek as well.

Peter, though, always tended to underestimate Stiles. He usually thought that Stiles’ moral code was as strict as Scott’s and Derek’s and thus did not think that Stiles might me armed and willing to use his gun. Scott, Derek, Malia and his dad arrived just in time to see how Stiles pulled the trigger of a gun loaded with wolfsbane-coated bullets.  

Stiles could not erase the look on their faces from his mind.

**-o-**

“I looked for you” His dad said after a moment of silence. Stiles felt himself blushing and tried to swallow the food in his mouth as smoothly as possible.  They had bought some burgers and a milkshake for Claudia, and then they had gone to his–his dad’s house.

“I hid” He replied with a shrug. “I had–Columbia had offered me a full ride. I had not told you yet because I planned on going to Berkley. Once there I made friends with a hacker, who made sure only certain people were able to find my name in the database. The only official document with my real name is Claudia’s birth certificate, and even then I was extra careful”.

“Why? Was it because–?”

“Dad, you all blamed me for Peter’s death. You heard Scott–I…I think you heard what Malia said. You weren’t even able to look at me”

“It was a shock, buddy, but–”

“–I could not stay. I messed up really badly, I kept messing up. I was a human with no training and no special abilities who always managed to get in the way”.

“That’s not–”

“It is true. I now know that maybe I shouldn’t have left because of that. Or even if I left, I should have stayed in touch with you. But that does not mean that everything you told me wasn’t true”.

“Daddy, may I play with Oscar now?” Claudia asked, pushing half of her burger away.

“Just be careful, honey. Don’t be too rough on him and if he growls at any moment back away slowly. Understood?” Claudia nodded with a grin and ran off towards the patio, where they had put Oscar.

“What’s her story?” The Sheriff asked once she was gone, clearly done with their previous conversation.

“I messed up during my senior year of college. Her mom did not want her, but I couldn’t give her up. I’ve been with her this whole time” His dad grinned.

“She’s beautiful”

“Of course she is, she’s my daughter” Stiles replied haughtily, making the Sheriff laugh.

“I really missed you” Stiles blushed and stammered for a moment, before nodding.

“I missed you, too. There were moments when I thought–I knew that if you were there I would have had it much easier. Raising her–not only was I a single father, I did not have my family with me, I had to graduate, work and raise her without any sort of help and I knew that you would have had things to say about a lot of the decisions I’ve made in the past six years. Nine years” He sighed again.

“You did a great job. She’s so smart and so sweet” There was a bitter smile in his face. “She has Claudia’s eyes” Stiles grinned.

“I have her eyes, she has my eyes” He shrugged. “Fortunately she is not quite as bad as I was, even if she is just as mouthy” That made his father laugh.

“What changed? Why are you here?” He asked after a moment of silence. Stiles bit his lip and closed his eyes.

“I need to talk to the pack. Someone found me in New York and–there’re things they need to know. I would prefer it if I didn’t have to tell the story twice” The Sheriff nodded. “I–I want to stay. I can work wherever, that it’s not the problem, and I can’t go back to New York” He took a deep breath. “I want you in her life–in our lives”

“Of course” The Sheriff let out a long breath. “I–Stiles, you’re my son. I don’t care about anything else. I love you. I want to get to know your daughter. I want to get to know the adult you became” Stiles laughed shakily and nodded, standing up to hug his father. For the first time in a long time, Stiles felt safe and at home.  

**-o-**

Stiles shouldn’t have expected anything else. Of course Deaton’s loyalty was with Scott, and not telling him that Stiles was back in Beacon Hills would have tasted a little bit like betrayal.

He couldn’t help but being a little bit bitter, though. He had wanted their first meeting to happen on _his_ terms. He had not been ready to face them all at once and he certainly had not been ready to talk about everything that had happened just yet.

He still wasn’t.

Scott hadn’t changed all that much. His jaw was still crooked, his eyes were still small and his hair was the same as it had always been. The only difference was that he had decided to grow a beard. If Stiles had been a little bit more comfortable, he would have pointed out that it made him look fifty.

Lydia was still as beautiful as she had been in High School. Her hair was a little bit shorter and had some highlights, but overall she had not changed. Kira, on the other hand, looked older –not in a bad sense–. She looked more serious, stronger and more dangerous and time had taken that innocent, slightly awkward aura away from her. Malia looked a little bit more put together, a little bit less wild. Her hair was longer and she had dyed it brown (or let the brown grow, he wasn’t sure) and funnily enough, his first thought was to thank god because she didn’t look angry anymore.

And then there was Derek. And fuck people with good genes that looked even better at 35 than they did at 25.  And then he realized that he was older than Derek had been the last time they saw each other and that made him feel old. He scowled.

“You look good, man” Were Scott’s first words. Stiles shrugged, feeling uncomfortable and unnaturally hot.

“You–have a beard” He blushed when Kira let out a laugh, but apparently that was enough to break the stiff atmosphere.

“Who are they?” Stiles almost jumped when Claudia’s arms closed around his leg. She was clearly trying to whisper, but not only was it too loud, the people in the room were still supernatural creatures with super hearing.

“Who are you?” Malia asked, a little bit rudely. Stiles had to bite back a smirk, because even though Malia looked a little bit more put together than before, apparently she had not quite adapted to social rules.

“My daughter, Claudia Stilinski”

“You have a daughter?” Scott asked in surprise.

“He just told you I’m his daughter, of course he has a daughter” Claudia answered haughtily, still glaring at Malia. Stiles let out a loud laugh, and had to make a mental note to talk to Claudia about proper behavior.

“Why don’t we all sit down–I’m sure Stiles has things to tell us” Kira, always the voice of reason, said. Stiles smiled at her and they all walked towards the living room. He pulled his daughter towards his lap once he found a seat an waited until they were all comfortable before talking.

“I assume you all know that Deucalion is alive” Their reactions told him two things: first, Kira and Malia did not know who the hell Deucalion was, and second, Scott and Derek had, in fact known, that Deucalion was alive. “He found me. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but he found me in New York. He told me that he did not particularly care for me, so he would give me time to leave New York, but that if he saw me again he would find very creative ways to get rid of me”

“What the–”

“Let me finish. I found out that he’s been building a pack for the past few years. People still respect his name, because of the alpha pack, but he hasn’t done all that much just yet”

“You’re worried, though” Derek said, making Stiles jump.

“He told me that I should go back to quote-unquote ‘my friends’, and tell them that he was back. He did not make another threat, just the one about leaving New York, but it is worrying that he wants you to know he’s back in action”

“Do you know how big his pack is?” Scott asked, leaning forward. Stiles realized that Scott looked much more like an Alpha, and it was obvious, he had been one for at least twelve years.

“Baby” Stiles called his daughter, who looked up with a smile. He touched her nose and grinned back. “You shouldn’t leave Oscar alone for too long, he might get sad”

“But–” She looked around, she clearly wasn’t comfortable leaving her dad alone with a bunch of strangers.

“I’ll be fine, baby. I have my dad here with me” He said with a big smile, making sure to make it sound dramatic.

“Fine. But if you need me, promise you’ll call” And it was just too precious how his daughter was always protecting him, and it just confirmed that whatever decision he took, if it kept his daughter safe, was absolutely worth any sacrifices he had to make.

“I promise” Then Claudia jumped off his lap and ran towards the patio.

“It’s so weird…you have a kid” Scott said, sounding just a little bit confused.

“She’s the best, isn’t she?” He grinned, before becoming serious again. “When I first arrived to New York, I made some connections. I talked to a few people and made friends with a couple of supernatural creatures. I was not too involved, but when Claudia was born, I made sure to stay the hell away from that world” He took a deep breath. “When Deucalion appeared, the first thing I did was to reach out to some old contacts–I do not have a number, but I do know that, in numbers, it is bigger than the Alpha pack”

“I have to make a few calls” Scott said after a moment of silence. “See if someone’s heard from him. Kira–”

“I’ll call my mom, don’t worry”

“Stiles, I’d understand if you said that you want to stay away from this but–it might be a good idea to introduce you to the rest of the pack” Stiles frowned, but quickly agreed, making Scott smile. “That can wait–I’m very happy you’re here”

That made Stiles grin. “It’s good to be back”

**-o-**

He did not see the pack for three days. He saw his father every day, either at the station or at his house, where they would have dinner. He wasn’t really expecting to see anyone, so he was understandably startled when he saw Claudia talking to Derek by the cereal section of the supermarket.

“Hi” He tried not to blush when Derek smiled in response. He was truly a very handsome man, and the years had apparently mellowed him a bit.

“Stiles. Claudia here was telling me that you refuse to buy her Fruit Loops?” He said with a grin, making Stiles groan. Claudia blushed and slapped Derek’s leg, clearly she had not wanted her father to know about it.

“Did she tell you how she decided that it would be a good idea to feed out dog a whole box of Fruit Loops for breakfast?” He asked with a grin.

“Dad! He was hungry” She whined, burying her face in her hands. Stiles was surprised again by the soft laugh Derek let out.

“Yeah, but Oscar has his own food, and I don’t think Fruit Loops are a balanced meal for him”

“But it tastes awful!” Clearly she realized that was not the right thing to say, because she covered her mouth with both her hands as she looked up at him.

“You’ve eaten his food?”

“No, I didn’t” Derek laughed at that.

“Apparently yes, she did.

“You traitor!” She screamed. “Don’t believe him, dad” She whimpered.

“Oh my God, I thought my daughter was a big girl…clearly she’s still a baby. Big girls do not eat their pets’ food!”

“I’m sorry, dad!” She cried out in despair. “I was just a little bit curious. And I only ate one. And I spat it out because it tasted awful” Clearly the whole thing was absolutely amusing to Derek, given the loud, long laugh he finally let out. Both Stilinski’s looked at him, one betrayed, the other just as amused.

“Well…in any case, I will buy my boring cereal and you will like it”

“But dad–”

“The other option is to ground you” Both men laughed again at the sound Claudia let out.

“Fine” She said as she crossed her arms. Stiles was still smiling when he turned around to look at Derek again. He blushed when he realized Derek was staring at him.

“Hey”

“Hey” He replied with a grin. “She’s  a lot like you” He pointed out, looking at Claudia.

“Unfortunately” He joked, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s a little bit weird seeing you with a kid–I never thought you would settle down” Derek said after a moment of silence. Stiles blushed.

“It depends on your definition of settling down–although having a kid definitely puts things into perspective”

“I–you don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to, I would totally understand, but, is her mom in the picture?” Stiles blushed further as he shook his head.

“She wasn’t planned. Clearly. Officially, she doesn’t have a mother. Nicole–the woman that gave birth to her– wasn’t ready to have a child. I’m not sure she will ever want a child, but she agreed when I begged her to let me keep the baby”

“She’s lucky to have you. You’ve done a great job” Stiles smiled shyly at him. Ç

“She ate the dog's food. I can't be sure about that.”

 

 

 


	2. Back and Forth

Because Stiles was never the luckiest dude in the world, the first person he met in the campus was a were. A were what, you might ask? Stiles was never completely sure, but apparently the dude could turn into something and the moon had some sort of freaky control over him.

His name was Jonah. It was as good as name as any, but Stiles would never be completely comfortable using it, simply because the entire world and their mothers called him Mason. Because that was his last name.

The first words Mason ever said to him were: dude, you smell like wolf. Stiles had looked at him for quite a while, surprised by the bluntness and complete lack of tact in his statement before nodding.

“There was a pack in my hometown. Sometimes I ran with them” And that was it. As blunt as Jonah Manson was, he hadn’t been particularly interested in his life before Columbia. Having a roommate that knew about the supernatural was apparently cool, though, and from that point on, Jonah made sure to take Stiles with him everywhere he went.

Manson’ major was Economics-Philosophy. Why someone would do such a thing to themselves was a question Stiles had never been able to answer, but he was a cool dude and a great roommate who only sexiled him in four occasions.

**-o-**

Claudia started classes on the first week of September. She had loved her school back in Newy York, so Stiles had been understandably worried about her reaction when she started school in Beacon Hills.

He had made sure to talk to her teacher before she started. Ms. Luna was a lovely girl, two years younger than Stiles who clearly adored children and who, fortunately, was not teaching because she had failed at something else.

Still, the class was much bigger than the one in New York and the building was not as interesting.

“Try to have fun, okay?” He told his daughter as he knelt down in front of her. Claudia rolled her eyes and Stiles bit back a smirk, clearly she did not appreciate being reminded to have fun so many times in one morning.

“I’ll be fine, daddy” She told him impatiently. Stiles nodded, but still reached out to fix her jacket–again. “If something happens, I’ll ask someone to let me call you” Stiles nodded again as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. He inhaled her soft scent before letting her go.

“I love you, ladybug”

“I love you too, daddy” She said, finally smiling. She then turned around and ran towards the building. Stiles waited until she was inside before walking back to the car. The car belonged to one of his dad’s friends, who had gone on a trip had had lent it to Stiles. It was an old Chevy that worked quite well, but Stiles knew that he had to find a permanent solution to his car problem soon.

He spent the morning, and part of his afternoon, working. He had –finally– caught up with his work, but it still took him several hours to get to the point where he could spend the afternoon with his daughter without having to worry about it.

He should have not felt as relieved as he did when he found his daughter in one piece, if a little bit dirtier than earlier that day. She was clearly happy, if the way she chatted and told him everything about her day was anything to go by. They drove up to the station to visit his father for a little bit, and then Stiles drove them to the park, where he bought them some ice cream and let her play with Oscar.

“And then there’s Susan. Did I tell you about Susan? She has the longest hair I’ve ever seen…It was ever longer than Teresa's! She told me that her mommy always combs her hair, but it always end up all tangled after a while. She told me she has a cat named Oswald. I think Oswald is worse than Oscar” Apparently, Claudia had inherited his ability to never shit up. She talked and talked and talked and, on the very rare occasions the words she knew weren’t enough to say everything she had to say, she let her whole body talk for her.

Most people loved her because of that, and even if Stiles loved that people loved his daughter almost as much as he loved her, it was still a little bit unfair that the reason she was everyone’s favorite was the same reason everyone hated him when he was a kid.

It was about five in the afternoon –probably time to go home– when Stiles saw Kira walking towards them. He had a moment to wonder how she’d known they would be there, but he pushed the thought aside quickly. He gave her a small smile and called Claudia towards him.

“Stiles Stilinski, it’s so good to see you” Kira said as soon as she was close enough. Then she looked at Claudia, who was hiding shyly behind Stiles’ back. “And you, you’re even prettier than I remembered”

“Don’t be silly, you can’t get prettier after a week” Even though she was still behind him, Stiles should have known that his daughter would never be too shy to sass someone. Kira let out a chuckle at her words, but recovered rather quickly.

“Should I assume there’s a reason you’re here?” Stiles said, trying not to be too rude. He probably failed, if the way she winced was anything to go by.

“Scott thinks it’s time for you to meet the pack” Stiles made a face, but nodded. He pulled out his cellphone and checked his schedule.

“I have a meeting later tonight and one tomorrow afternoon. I wouldn’t be comfortable having this meeting without Claudia, so it’s either on the weekend or next week in the afternoon” Kira looked as if she wanted to say something, but Stiles just narrowed his eyes, making it clear neither of those things was up to discussion.

“I’ll pass the message, then” Stiles relaxed a little bit, even though he hadn’t noticed he’d tensed up.

“Great” He said with a small grin.

“You’re always welcome to have dinner with us–we could ask the rest to stay away for a night” She said after a moment of silence. Stiles had no doubt that it had been discussed beforehand with Scott.

“I–I really just want to be with Claudia and my dad, make sure that she’s adjusting well. So–not right now?” He hated himself a little bit for making it sound like a question. Kira’s face fell immediately, but she didn’t press.

“Okay. I just wanted to leave an open invitation” There was an awkward moment where she clearly wondered if she should wave or hug or kiss Stiles. She settled for waving from an awkward wave and a way-too-cheerful smile.

**-o-**

On one memorable occasion, Stiles fucked a vampire.

Actually, it was memorable because the vampire was hot as fuck and had the most perfect ass the world had ever seen, and its memorableness had nothing to do with the fact that he had been a vampire.

His name was Andrew. Stiles sometimes thought that Andrew was not a good name for a vampire, but then again, he –Andrew– usually got a little bit angry when Stiles implied that he ought to be different because he was a fucking vampire.

Andrew was not 300 years-old, either. He was actually 22 and had been bitten by one of his mom’s friends when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Stiles would have given him points for the tragic story, but he would have had to take them back because Andrew was just as boring as his name suggested.

Still. Hot as fuck and had the best ass in the world.

Manson usually reminded him that he did not want to get too involved with the supernatural world. Andrew was a good guy who happened to be a vampire, but there were creatures out there who would love nothing more than to take over the world.  Stiles would have thought that Manson was exaggerating, but he had met Peter Hale and he was quite sure that the guy had been possessed by the fucking devil or something.

His relationship with Andrew did not work. It was never much of a relationship, simply because Stiles was so busy he just had time to get off and sleep, but in any case, it did not work.

Andrew was a genuinely nice guy. If he got upset about something, he would very politely tell Stiles that he was fucking up and ask him to stop fucking up. He would sometimes bring him coffee and even once baked him cookies. Andrew was too nice and Stiles was too much of an asshole. Besides, Nicole broke up with her boyfriend and Andrew did not stand a chance.

**-o-**

Stiles met the pack on Monday. He had to admit that it was much more functional than the old one, and it probably had a lot to do with the fact that Scott hadn’t bitten them out of desperation and that he was not quite as broken as Derek.

Stiles met Anne, Roger, Luke, Michael and Ashley. Also, Isaac had come back and Danny had been brought into the pack, even though he hadn’t been bitten –yet–. For some reason, Stiles had thought that it would be bigger. Deaton and Scott had made it sound bigger. On top of that, he had to compare them to Erica and Boyd and Alisson and, he had to admit, they were not even remotely as badass as they had been.

Stiles’ strategy had been simple: he made Claudia look as cute as possible. That way, people would be more distracted and would pay less attention to him. It was as good of a plan as any –yay, Father of the Year Award goes to: Stiles Stilinsky– but clearly Scott was more interested in what Stiles had to offer.

“We don’t know if there’s something we should prepare for–are they going to come here? Are they a threat?” Stiles would have scowled, but then Scott would have made him feel as if he’d kicked his puppy.

“I told you everything I knew last time. I don’t know anything else. I can give you the number of an alpha in New York, with some luck he might be able to keep you up to date with what is going on, but I’m not sure I’ll be of much help” Clearly, Scott would have made him feel like shit regardless of what he chose to do or say.

“What does he even want? He should be thankful that Derek refused to kill him. He has no motive or whatsoever!”

“Except for the fact that we ended up destroying his pack without killing everyone” Derek pointed out. For some reason, Claudia was sitting on his lap, playing with the watch on his wrist and looking as if sitting on Derek was nothing out of the ordinary. Stiles had to bite back another scowl: he would have Words –with capital w– with his daughter about proper behavior.

“I don’t know, Scott. I really don’t know. When I saw him, he just told me to get away and tell you that he was back. For all I know, he could just be posturing or some shit”

“Swear jar, daddy” Claudia sang cheerfully. Stiles rolled his eyes and threw a ball of paper at his daughter. “That’s rude” She complained with a pout, jumping off Derek’s lap and running towards her father. Stiles picked her up and held her close.

“Look, Claudia has homework and I have a deadline coming up. This has been interesting and all, but there’s nothing else I can tell you right now. I’ll call my friend in New York, I’ll ask him to give me some information, but that’s it”

“Stiles–”

“Drop it” Derek growled at Scott. Scott’s eyes flashed red, but clearly his relationship with Derek was more complicated than he thought, because he simply sighed and nodded. “Do you need me to drive you back?” Derek asked after a moment. Stiles smiled gratefully.

“Yes, thank you. Say bye, ladybug” Claudia climbed off his lap and ran to say goodbye to everyone. Stiles was feeling more than a little bit anxious and the faster he got back home, the better.

**-o-**

His relationship with Vanessa was intense. That was the only word he would be able to think of when he remembered her years later. Their interactions were intense, the sex was intense, their emotions were intense–

Vanessa fucked him up, just a little bit. But that was fair, because he also fucked her up, just a little bit. They fell in too quickly into a relationship, they were both intense and awkward and Vanessa was much too beautiful for him to handle.

Funnily enough, Vanessa was human. She was as normal as anyone else. She was majoring in political science; she came from a textbook family (mother, father, 2.5 kids), and she had never experienced major loss. Sometimes, Stiles couldn’t believe that he had been with her for six months because it felt much longer.

They had even talked about moving in together. They had wondered what marriage would be like. They had even named their future children (surprisingly, Claudia had not been within those names, which was ironic)

Of course it all fell apart at the end.

They had always argued. Their relationship had started because they loved to pull on each other’s metaphorical pigtails, and most of the attraction they felt had been born out of a love-hate relationship. Around the fifth month of their relationship though, the fights got worse. It was no longer about being annoying, they were actively trying to hurt each other.

She would yell at him, slap him, accuse him of cheating, and even though Stiles had never even looked at anyone else –not even Nicole– he would tell her that he had, that he could not stand her, that he was a crazy bitch and that he regretted ever talking to her.

Their relationship burned out just as fast as it had been born. The fights lasted for about three weeks and they dared to pretend that everything would be fine for one more before they broke up. Then, the clothes that had slowly migrated towards his drawers disappeared and the few things he had left over her room returned. It was as if she had never been there–except for the fact that he had gotten his little heart broken and Mason liked to remind him that he was a fucking idiot for rushing –yes, a certain song had been sung more than once and no, Fucking Manson did not have a good voice–.

**-o-**

“Maybe next time you could leave Claudia with me? There are some conversations that should not me had with a child so close” The scene was oddly homey, and it brought him a very nostalgic feeling. Claudia was passed out on the couch, the TV still on, and his dad washed the dishes while he dried, both chores completed way too quickly for them to have been done properly.

“She would notice if I were to keep something from her. She doesn’t like it, so I try not to. There are a few things she doesn’t understand, but she knows that whatever she hears is not to be repeated” He shrugged, finally putting away the last glass.

“Still”

“Claudia is the safest when she’s with me; I’d rather keep her close. That way she learns what is safe and what is dangerous” His dad is very obviously not happy about it, but he knows better than to try to teach Stiles how to be a parent.

“Are you sure she won’t tell anyone about anything?” His dad did a weird eyebrow-wiggle when he said that, making Stiles laugh.

“She’s a smart girl, in case you didn’t notice. She still doesn’t know what’s safe to share and what is not, so she mostly doesn’t talk about me or my friends to anyone. Her teachers back at New York would tell me that most of her friends were convinced I didn’t exist” He grimaced “That is a little bit unfair, but she’ll get better at figuring it out, and both our lives will get easier”

“Didn’t you say that you tried to stay away from all the –supernatural business once she was born?” Stiles sighed, hoping his dad would have overlooked it.

“And I did. That doesn’t mean that the supernatural business decided to stay away from me” He confessed “I did not look for it, I didn’t seek anyone out–but I’d acquired some responsibilities that would not be easily dropped”

“Will you ever tell me about what happened?” His dad asked, looking a little bit unsure. Stiles looked at him, at the wrinkles that were now more deeply set in his forehead and the way his hair had turned almost completely gray. He nodded.

“One day–just”

“Time, I know” He said with a small smile. Stiles let out a relieved sigh. “Do you think you’re safe here?”

“Everything that has to happen, will happen in Beacon Hills. I’m as safe here as I was back there–probably safer, considering Deucalion. I still do not know what the hell is going on, though. I’m not used to that, and that makes me nervous. That’s probably why I’ve been so anxious, not because there’s a certain threat coming towards us”

“That will do for now, I guess” The sheriff sighed. “Do you want to stay the night? It’s late” Stiles shook his head.

“I have to feed Oscar and Claudia gets restless” He offered. Truth to be told, he didn’t want to set foot in his old bedroom. “I’m fine to drive, it’ll be okay” His dad frowned, but did not protest. In the end, he helped stiles carry Claudia towards the car –not that Stiles needed much help. The drive took about 15 minutes, and by 11 the dog had been fed, his daughter had been put in her bed and Stiles had changed and gone to sleep.

**-o-**

Interestingly enough, Stiles didn’t have the time to earn a ‘class clown’ image in Columbia. His day was so busy, he didn’t really have time to waste and it meant people thought he was much more serious than he really was. It probably helped his case in the long run, as he was apparently a bright human kid that knew about the supernatural world and that was willing to help whoever might need his assistance.

–yeah, they also thought he was a much better person than he actually was. In reality, most of the time Stiles was an asshole that wanted to be informed of every little thing that happened around him, and helping supernatural creatures was usually the way to go.

The particular image the circumstances had helped him create was what made a couple of werewolves approach him for the first time.

“His name is Bruce Montgomery. He’s a hunter–I–I hate hunters, but I know he’s not exactly the worst person in the world” The youngest of the two was called William. He didn’t talk at all during the meeting, scared shitless as he was. The other guy was called Armand, and even though he was speaking, he didn’t look much better.

“I don’t understand what I can do for you” They had approached him one day in the library. Armand had flashed his amber eyes at him, and Stiles had had no choice other than to follow both of them towards the back of the building.

“They think I killed a girl” William whispered, looking around and shivering like a scared dog – _That’s racist, Stiles_ –.

“Did you?” Stiles couldn’t help but ask. William flashed his eyes in response. Stiles would have been scared, but the fact that his eyes were still yellow, probably meant William had not killed anyone.

“No, I didn’t! I would never–I was just in the worst place at the worst time. She’d been left bleeding on a fire escape and when I walked under it she fell down and–” Could werewolves have panic attacks? Stiles was not sure, but William certainly looked as if he was about to have one. He looked at Armand for help, but the older werewolf just shook his head. “When Montgomery arrived, I was coated in blood and the girl was dead. They stick to the code as much as they can, but that doesn’t mean that they carry out fair trials for guys like us”

“He–”  

“Dead girl, werewolf coated in blood–Apparently he did the math, and it resulted in William killing a girl” Armand told him. “William managed to get away, but Montgomery is looking for him. Our alpha is in Europe–we have no way of contacting him. I tried to speak to Montgomery, but he clearly didn’t believe us” He rubbed his face with his hands, looking absolutely exhausted. “We just need a chance to explain–he just hates werewolves. Manson –he was the one that suggested we talked to you– told us that his sister was killed a few years ago by a rouge werewolf, so he holds no sympathy. But if a human were to talk to him–”

“He may listen to your case” Both werewolves nodded. “I–I don’t know where to find him” He offered, even though he was already thinking of ways he could fix it.

“He’s an animal hunter, as well as a supernatural one. He has a store downtown”

“If I end up dead, I will come back just so I can kill you both” Stiles decided.

“Thank you!” William whispered gratefully, ignoring Stiles’ threat. (To be perfectly honest, it had been such a pathetic excuse of a threat, that Stiles would have probably ignored it as well)

In the end, Stiles managed to save William’s life and help Montgomery catch the werewolf that had killed the girl. Apparently her dad had owned the pack some money and the girl had –foolishly– tried to deceive the pack. When the alpha had realized what was going on, he had been justifiably mad, but had reacted like the batshit crazy creature he was. He had been convinced that it had all been planned by the girl’s father and had decided to punish him by killing the girl.

–Stiles thought there was more to the story, but Montgomery hadn’t really let him listen further. He had simply shot the werewolf in the forehead before calling off his team.

Stiles thought that if the alpha had not been a crazy, Nazi-like dictator, the pack would have been much more upset about having hunters killing him without consideration. Stiles quickly learned that Montgomery –although arguably not a bad man– was not someone that thought too much about his actions, which was precisely why Stiles had fell into his position as human mediator.

**-o-**

Stiles had learned to braid on YouTube. He was not the most talented man in the world; he was still way to spastic to have good fine motor skills. Still, his daughter very clearly appreciated his effort, always agreeing to pose for a picture whenever Stiles did her hair.

Stiles was finishing with doing a milkmaid braid when Oscar started to growl from his position in front of Claudia. Oscar was not an aggressive dog; in fact, he rarely barked and even more rarely growled. That was the reason Stiles was put immediately on edge by the sound. He secured the braid with a bobby-pin and then ushered Claudia towards the kitchen. He made a ‘shhh’ motion with his finger and then went to open the door.

–the whole pack was in front of his apartment and Stiles had a moment to consider if it would be appropriate to kill them all dead with his daughter still in the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing here?” That he had the time to reconsider murdering a relatively big group of werewolf did not mean that he had time to calm himself down.

“You’ve been dodging my calls” Scott explained, as if that made perfect sense. Although, given the fact that werewolves had had the habit of sneaking into his room at crazy hours of the night without giving him any notice, he figured that it probably made perfect sense to him.

“And you decided to bring a search party?” He decided that having such a big group of people in front of his apartment was probably not a great idea so, against his better judgment, he moved aside to let them in. Once closed the door, he went to the kitchen to retrieve his daughter who, amazingly enough, had remained quiet and cuddled behind Oscar.

–and the damn dog was still growling and he had so many jokes and so little time.

“We heard back from you friend in New York” Derek said. He was not looking at him, instead, he had bent down to greet Claudia. Stiles hated that warm feeling in his chest when he saw how quickly his daughter had wrapped the former alpha around her little finger.

“You did? What did he say?”

“Deucalion has killed two alphas ever since you left” Scott told him. “He defied both alphas, killed them and then claimed their packs. He killed the few people that didn’t like his presence in the pack. Clearly him finding you coincided with his decision to move things forward, as whatever he’s been doing in the past was not quite as dramatic as this”

“A group of hunters went to ‘talk’ to him” Kira even did the quotations marks with her fingers. Stiles could admit that she was still adorable. “Apparently they only found half of one of them” Stiles frowned, before looking at his daughter. For the first time he wondered if maybe he should send her away from that particular discussion. It seemed like Derek had the same worry, though.

“Lady Claudia, I think Sir Oscar is not very happy here” Stiles bit back a smile at the way Derek spoke to his daughter. “Would you like to go out for a walk with him?”

“But–sir Derek, my dad–“

“I think Oscar needs you more right now, ladybug” Stiles told her gently. “Besides, you told me that you wanted to hang out with Derek” He almost laughed out loud at the bright blush that filled his daughter’s cheeks. She had such a huge crush that it almost was not funny anymore. _Almost._

Derek, Oscar and Claudia left and as soon as the door was closed, Stiles spoke.

“What exactly do you want me to do?” He felt like he had to ask. He was worried, of course he was worried. He had friends in New York and he suddenly was worried that some of them might have been gotten caught in the whole mess. He knew hunters, he knew alphas, he knew betas–and the fact that so far the whole mess just involved werewolves did not mean that other supernatural creatures were not involved as well.

“It’s not that we want you to do something–It’ just that regardless of whether you want it or not, you’re involved in this whole thing. And we need to be prepared–just in case” Scott let out a tired sigh and for a moment Stiles thought of the guy who had just been bitten and who was more worried about whether he would be able to date Allison or not. “There’s another pack in the city–the alpha is a little bit older than me and we’re in good terms. There’s also a nomad pack staying around the preserve and I have friends in a pack in Fresno. We have no reason to think that Deucalion will come here–New York is very far, but we think that things will be safer if we work together”

“And you want me involved?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“As involved as you want to be, dude. Maybe just meeting them, maybe helping us contact something other than werewolves–whatever you’re willing to do” And Stiles couldn’t say no to that, because Scott looked earnest and worried and Stiles was not a complete piece of shit.

**-o-**

Even though Stiles had been given a full ride, he still needed to work. He had a place to stay, school and two meals a day guaranteed, but he still needed more food, clothes and other necessities.

During his first year in college, he went the traditional route and worked in a Starbucks. Stiles had never been a big fan of the company: the coffee was not all that great, the prices were ridiculous, and people were unexplainably obsessed with it. However, that had nothing to do with the fact that he needed a job and Starbucks was a good place to start.

When he started his position as a supernatural mediator, a few people pointed out that Starbucks was not the best place to have conversations. It was then that he met Mama Lupe. Mama Lupe was some kind of witch – _I’m not a witch Stiles, I’m a_ _mambo asogwe_ – who owned a thematic café a few blocks away from campus.

–only most of the shit in the walls was real and the place would freak the fuck out of Stiles most of the time.

Stiles agreed to work here only when he was sure he would not have to do anything out of the ordinary. The place became some sort of office–it was not very clear exactly what Stiles do. A few times a week someone would come in and ask for help and Stiles would decide whether or not he should get involved. Sometimes, payment was involved, sometimes it wasn’t…it all depended on how dangerous the situation was, or how complex, or how much time he had to invest on it.

He had the suspicion that Mama Lupe didn’t like him – _Maybe I would like you better if you stopped calling me a witch_ – but she still allowed him to work there both as waiter and as a mysterious mediator in supernatural arguments.

It was also through Mama Lupe that Stiles met the other side of the supernatural coin, one that Derek had never bothered to tell him about–

–maybe Derek didn’t even know about it.

It was through Mama Lupe that Stiles learned about different theories of shape-shifting, and it was through Mama Lupe that Stiles met different kinds of magic users. Stiles could admit that he had been way too arrogant in Beacon Hills. It should have been obvious that if werewolves and kanimas and wendigos and kitsunes and banshees existed, then other mythical creatures had to exist as well.

It was probably a smart decision to stay as far away from it all as his job would let him –which was not a lot– because if he thought Peter had been crazy, there were people out there who would have given the werewolf nightmares.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should point out that English is not my first language and thus it is very likely there will be some mistakes. I ask for patience, though, because I'm trying to improve.   
> Thank to the people who left reviews and Kudos and to those that bookmarked the story.

**Author's Note:**

> First teen wolf fic, first fic published in Arcive of our Own. Who knows if someone is even going to read this. I have a never seen before inability to properly end my chapters, I think that's okay.


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